[HOW-TO] Lower your ping!

to first lower your ping, your going to have to understand what your ping is.

Ping refers to the network latency between a player's computer, called a client, and the game server. This is usually measured in milliseconds. The average ping is in the 100's, anything higher than 200 will make you lag. Low ping is always better than high ping and allows for smoother faster gameplay.

Think of it this way.
Quote:

Quote:

The time it takes for your message, Hello Server, to reach the server, and then the time it takes for the servers reply is your ping. If you have a bad internet connection your internet may lose a few "packets" of data on the way and your message will be like this

If you lose packets the server will only register the packets it receives and will not fill in the blank. This means if you shoot 30 bullets into an enemy and lose 10 of them in lost packets then only 20 bullets will register even if all 30 hit.

A number of things contribute to high ping.

1. Your distance from the server. For example one of the crossfire servers is in Canada, I get 200+ ping because I live so far away from it (Australia)
2. Your internet connection. The faster your internet is, the lower your ping will be
3. Reliability. If you don't have reliably even internet you will find your ping spiking (going up alot very fast then back down)
4. Bandwidth. If you are taking up bandwidth by downloading something, watching youtube or browsing the web your ping will be higher
5. Connection. A wireless connection (depending on the strength) can add 40-50 to your ping
6. Router. A router will also slow you down and add to your ping.
7. Computer. If your computer is running many programs at once or has many processes running this will slow down your ping
8. Antivirus. Your antivirus will want to scan all incoming packets which will slow you down so make sure you turn it off

Now you know what is causing the high ping we need to work on ways to fix it. First of all you want your computer running at maximum speed.

Now you know what is causing the high ping we need to work on ways to fix it. First of all you want your computer running at maximum speed.

Scan your computer for viruses using your antivirus.

Now clean your registery and temp files using CCleaner
Download CCleaner 3.27.1900 - FileHippo.com

Now defrag your computer using defraggler
Download Defraggler 2.12.628 - FileHippo.com

Now that you have done that we are ready to get started.
A good way to lower ping is by making the packets that you are sending and receiving a high priority.
There are two ways to do this:

Download an easy program called Leatrix Latency Fix
Leatrix Latency Fix : Leatrix Projects : World of Warcraft AddOns
or
Leatrix.com

or the hard way:

There's a Checker script included in the download which will show you a list of network interfaces which Leatrix Latency Fix has modified successfully.



Another way to do this is by making a few quick fixes in the registery yourself.
(this is called the Nagle algorithm)

Code:

Code:

Step 1 - TcpAckFrequency THIS IS FOR WINDOWS XP/(SOME) VISTA Type "regedit" in windows "run.." dialog to bring up registry menu  Then find: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\  There will be multiple NIC interfaces listed in there, find the one you use to connect to the internet, there will be several interfaces listed (they have long names like {7DBA6DCA-FFE8-4002-A28F-4D2B57AE8383}. Click each one, the right one will have lots of settings in it and you will see your machines IP address listed there somewhere. Right-click in the right hand pane and add a new DWORD value, name it TcpAckFrequency, then right click the entry and click Modify and assign a value of 1.  You can change it back to 2 (default) at a later stage if it affects your other TCP application performance. it tells windows how many TCP packets to wait before sending ACK. if the value is 1, windows will send ACK every time it receives a TCP package.  Step 2 - TCPNoDelay This one is pretty simple. (If you cannot find the MSMQ then use the win7 way)  Type "regedit" in windows "run.." dialog to bring up registry menu  Then find: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSMQ\Parameters  Right-click in the right hand pane and add a new DWORD value, name it TCPNoDelay, then right click the entry and click Modify and assign a value of 1.  Click Ok and close the registry editor, then reboot your PC. 

This is another way for most Vista and Win7 people.

Code:

Code:

  1. From a command prompt (usually in All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt) run ?regedit?  2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces  3. Browse the items under interfaces until you find one that has an IPAddress entry matching the network interface you want to affect (typically LAN IP addresses start with 192.168 or 10.0); note that if your IP address is automatically assigned by a DHCP server you may need to look for a matching DhcpIPAddress instead of IPAddress  4. Right-click on the interface and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it ?TcpAckFrequency?  5. Right-click the new TcpAckFrequency value and select Modify, enter ?1″ (Hexadecimal radio button should be selected)  6. Right-click on the interface and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it ?TCPNoDelay? (note that TCP is all uppercase this time ? that?s intentional)  7. Right-click the new TCPNoDelay value and select Modify, enter ?1″ (Hexadecimal radio button should be selected)  8. Verify that both TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay now show up in the adapter?s property list with types REG_DWORD and values 0?00000001  9. Exit regedit and reboot (reboot is necessary for the changes to take effect!) 10.Play a game and enjoy your new low ping 

If for some reason you can't do either of them then PM me and I will try to help.

Here is an experimental thing for Windows 7/Vista, I know it works on XP. The game client is in the crossfire main folder.

Code:

Code:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.  2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\...[the rest of the path goes to where the client app for your game is]  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.  4. Type TcpNoDelay for the name of the DWORD, and then press ENTER.  5. Right-click TcpNoDelay, and then click Modify.  6. In the Value data box, type 1 to turn on the Nagle algorithm socket option, or type 0 to turn off the option.  7. Click OK, and then quit Registry Editor. 

You may want to check what is slowing you down in your connection to do this all you need to do is follow the instructions below.

Ping is a simple utility that is used to check if a server is active and responding, and if it is, how long it is taking packets of information to travel from your computer to the destination server. Packets are small blocks of data (often 32 bytes of information), the sending is then are checked to ensure that the data is transfered accurately. In addition to the time statistics provided, you will also receive the IP address of your destination.

Traceroute is a utility that helps diagnose network congestion between your computer (ISP) and the destination server (mysitespace).Traceroute works by sending packets of information from your location to the destination and timing how long it takes to receive a response. In addition to tracking the time it takes to reach the final destination, you are provided with the times to each 'Hop' between your terminal and the destination. Each Hop is a separate 'router' that your information must pass through. By providing the times for each hop, we can often find the source of problems accessing a server.



I found this on the interwebs, and i thought it would be nice to share it !
And yes it worked for me!

Credits: Dawgpound from an "illegal" website. XD

 

Wouldn't it be easier to use Leatrix latency fix? To the most part it's the same thing xD
^checked. It IS the same thing xD No need to go trough the whole registry write process. You have to start it as admin though...

I would also strongly suggest to make a system restore point before attempting any of the above. You're dealing with the register afterall xD

[Edit]
latency goes down by ~50... not bad. I guess the nagle thingie really works

 

It says at the top that there are two ways to do this.

First the leatrix fix, the second the manual way. I bolded it to make it more clear.

 

N don't missunderstand I've read it, but I don't know wether there's any pros in using the manual way instead of the leatrix fix... I mean you wrote it down to the last dot. There must be a catch xD

 

its still the same if u used Leatrix... the main problem is your connection.. if its not good then your ping will be high too.. and it will be laggy..

... it may also occur due to insufficient processing power in the client and/or server.

 

Well, the thing is i didn't wrote it down i took it from some other forum.
And i can't advertise other forums on here so yeah.

But from what i get is, that on that forum a lot people don't trust each other because a lot of viruses tend to get uploaded there.
Hence the manual way.

At leasts that's what i think, i can pm it you if you want. I'll have to re-read it though. xD

[edit]

Btw, leatrice's solution does not create the TCPnoDelay dword for you

 

Oh now I get the idea of this TCPNoDelay switch. It's engenious. It cranks up the maximum possible events that can be handled at the same time by killing the queue engine. Naisss. makes sense that it'll lower the ping since games use a lot of small packets xD

That reminded me. Any tips at what packets to prioritize in order to give my MMO gamez an edge over whatever else if going on around the house (cuz some people really love downloading certain stuff, thus eating up the traffic both sides), without completely killing everyone else's DL speeds xD Last time I set up QoS on my global router, my machine had highest priority in the traffic moderation queue, but for unknown reason DL speeds everywhere in the hours died down to 30 KB/s. That can't be right when I'm barely using 30UL/30DL... there's plenty of traffic left for everybody (my max is 1 MB/s UL/DL... and I pay ~22 USD for it. Total ripoff xD)

 

I've saw spam bots around here..

 

Well i bought a special D-link gaming router for $180,- which does this all on it's own. I can download with 8mb/s on 1 pc, and play a game with 30 ping on another at the same time.
So honestly i don't have a clue about router settings, but setting your own IP as priority number 1 in the QOS and others @ nr. 10 or more might fix it or not at all !

 

i disagree with ur packet loss example. just coz its lost doesnt mean the server never gets it. every packet (with leatrix) has an acknowledgment packed into it, that the server has to respond to. if it doesnt, the pc has to send it again (aka temporary lagg spike coz it has to be resent). thats what TCPackFrequency means. windows is optimized for large traffic so it acknowledges every 2 packets (uses a bit less bandwidth) but games send large quantities of small packets, so making it acknowledge each and every one cuts the waiting time for the 2nd packet. thats why ur ping is cut to about half

btw thats also ur point #3, "reliability" is really just packet loss rate. its best measured by pingtest.net. same for ur net speed and general ping, the most commonly used site is speedtest.net

i disagree with #7 along with ccleaner and defragger. they do nothing to improve ur ping, they only affect loading times and FPS (so yes it helps u but not in terms of ping)

btw u didnt mention the hardware part. a good network card prioritizes gaming traffic and lowers ur ping that way
Bigfoot Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card Review - Overclockers Club

 

Thanks for the heads-up! i will ad the hardware segment later when i have a bit more time and or nothing to do!
Cheers anyway for the info =)

 

Copy mutha****ing paste.

 

Awsome ty for the tip help me out a bit

 

That is correct.

 

I have in my hands, at this very moment a 2100 Killer Bigfoot card from my old machine that I used from 2 years, and now lays disassembled.
I bought that card for the very same purpose being written here; to lower my ping. And I am sad to type that unless you live in USA or Canada, due to distance, the ping reduction is meaningless.

-Of all the choices Leatrix DO works, it makes the communication more stable, less spiky; but it does not lower your ping significantly.

-Having an expensive very large Broadband plan also works, if the plan is good enough it also helps to reroute your wires to Category 6, and buy base 1000 router or switches.
Keep in mind that most network cards, NPU, and MB that have the network integrated (most if not all of them) have the base 1000 speed, it DOES help, little but it does.

-The real help comes from these sites and softwares that tunnel your signal, a.k.a: Reduce the Lag, WTFast, etc. These are what makes the ping goes down, but you need to spend some bucks on it, sad but true. I am of the idea that if you cant afford an NPU like the killer (That wont help that much) or an expensive ISP with cables and all, spend some $17 here play 3 months with a real lower ping, it is the most realistic thing you can do, I do understand that there are money issues and all that, but that is entirely your problem, and a local factor.

-And what will make it all go away? Move to where the server is located XD.

In my experience and opinion that is all you can do, IF you live 14.000+ kilometer away to the server.

 

@Ddraig of course a network card wont reduce the distance the packet has to travel once it leaves your modem xd but it does reduce the delay between your pc and the modem which can be around 70-140ms (140 if u have torrents running due to traffic prioritization, thats vs onboard card)

the actual test results r on this screen
Bigfoot Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card Review » Page 7 - Testing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Overclockers Club
it is much better than integrated but the netgear one is comparable, for as long as ur torrents arent running xd

anyways if ur running through a router etc the gain can be pretty small. in any case, better than onboard one xd

 

Yes, it may be so, but in my case in particular the gain was naught. I assume that the guy that made that comparison is in the US or to a nearby server. There the card can show its colors, at 14.000 km away... no, not to me at least.

I had 189-425ms playing with the 2100 on a US server. And those number repeat themselves in my new machine that has an onboard base1000 card. I never torrent while playing though.

But the rule is still the same, the closest you are to the server, the faster you ll be. Then whatever you add to it will just makes it better. But if you got to choose I say pay the WTFast or similars + leatrix.